Kickers and a resurgent USC steal the show in Week 9 - ESPN

College kickers.

In internet parlance, those two words, paired next to each other, have a certain connotation. The rough translation, for the longest time, has been: College football coaches should never rely on their field goal units because they cannot be trusted.

Their tendency to miss seemingly routine kicks has helped create the stereotype, turning even the shortest field goal attempts into moments of collective anxiety for fans and coaches.

For much of Saturday's game between No. 4 Indiana and Minnesota, that reputation seemed well-earned.

Indiana's Nico Radicic had a 52-yard field goal blocked, missed a 31-yarder, made a 46-yarder and then didn't get the opportunity to kick what might have been a score-tying 27-yard field goal because of a fumbled snap. It was a chain of events that could have had coach Curt Cignetti abandon kicking all together.

Instead, the game delivered — and we don't say this lightly — perhaps the most impressive display of field goal kicking in college football history.

With the score tied at 13, Minnesota's Luke Drzewiecki drilled a 60-yarder with ease, leaving just 19 seconds on the clock for Indiana to avoid a stunning upset.

After backup quarterback Grant Wilson connected with Charlie Becker on a 33-yard pass, the Hoosiers sent Paddy McAteer onto the field to attempt a 60-yarder of his own. With the game on the line and no time remaining, McAteer delivered, sending the game to overtime.

It was a sequence without precedent in modern college football. According to ESPN Research, this was the first FBS game in at least 30 years to feature multiple made field goals from 60-plus yards. The last time a game featured more than one was in 1976, when Texas A&M's Tony Franklin hit from 64 and 65